Aria

 

 

 

“She saw us,” Alexa said in a hushed tone.

We were huddled behind some large crates after we heard some noise a few moments after leaving the storage room.

I held my arm out to stop them from moving and peered over the corner of the crate. Something moved but I held still. Then it jetted toward me like a missile.

I quickly moved back, pressing my back against the crate. It flew by missing us completely.

“It’s a bird, not Emma Hawthorne. Let’s keep going. There should be a way out in the back. By law, every building has to have at least two exits,” I said.

Alex grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing my dirt-covered fingers. “I love that you are filled with random knowledge. It’s cute and lifesaving at the same time.”

“Less kissing and more getting the hell out of here,” Alexa said as she made a move past us.

We followed her advice even if my heart was still racing from relief that my plan worked. It was hard not to run and jump into Alex’s arms when he said I didn’t want him anymore. I wanted to give him a thousand kisses and tell him it wasn’t true.

The pain in his eyes almost broke me, but I knew if I gave anything away we would never have a chance to escape.

I wanted to take him right there when I saw the love and relief in his eyes after his mother left and I admitted the truth. But it’s not always the right time to have sex. Like when we are escaping a crazy woman who had us kidnapped and is hell-bent on taking over the country by murder, bribery, and lies.

It felt like we were making our way through a maze as we moved farther toward the back of the building. Just as we saw the door with a red, glowing exit sign overhead, we heard loud voices.

“They’re gone! Quick, search everywhere,” A male voice came from the middle of the building.

“We have to run. There’s no other way. If we hide, they’ll find us,” I whispered.

“I’ll stay and distract them. You two run,” Alex said as he placed his hands on our backs.

“Absolutely not! I didn’t just tell the devil herself a pack of hateful lies and risk myself, just so you could get caught again. We all go,” I said as I glared at Alex.

“Aria, no. You two need time to flee. Who knows what’s out there. We could be in the middle of the desert. Where will you hide? At least if I distract them, then you two can assess the area and find some place to go. It gives you time.”

I could feel the tears burning my eyes as I shook my head. I refused to leave behind someone I loved, again.

“No, I’ll stay. You two get help. At least, Alex, you can protect Alexa. You might need to climb over a fence, you can use those big arms of yours to help her out.”

“They’re coming. Why don’t we all just make a dash for it? If we stay and argue, we all will be caught,” Alexa said, her eyes wide in frustration.

“I don’t like any of this. Why are you being so stubborn?” Alex said and gritted his teeth.

“Because I love you, that’s why. I will fight them for you. Now, both of you, go,” I said pointing to the door.

Alexa started to make a move but Alex grabbed her and kept his eyes on me. “Oh, and I don’t love you enough to fight them? I will fight them until the ends of the Earth and into the stars. So, you go with Alexa.”

“How about all of you come with me?” A deep voice came from behind us.

We turned and looked up from our crouched positions to find the douche, Jagger, standing there.

As we stood, Alexa turned to us, pointing her finger in our direction. “I’m never speaking to either of you again. Who has a fight about who loves whom more as they try to escape a kidnapping? Idiots, that’s who.”

She was right. I glanced at Alex and his pitiful expression matched how I felt.

“This was all my fault,” both Alex and I said at the same time.

“Damn straight it is,” Alexa said as Jagger pushed us forward.

We walked past the storage room and dread filled my chest. This was it. I would have to witness the man I loved marry the woman he didn’t love.

Mrs. Hawthorne must be with the minister right now telling him exactly what to say, even if the two people getting married tried to say no.

We kept walking and noticed more people mulling around the area. More of Mrs. Hawthorne’s thugs. We probably wouldn’t have had a chance of escape even if we tried. She must have a bunch of help both inside and outside the building.

“Go out the door,” Jagger said as we came to the front.

Alex pushed open the door and we all shielded our eyes to the bright light. Once my eyes adjusted to the light, I noticed we were surrounded by green. I could see a farm off in the distance and wondered if we could have made it to that farm in time before being caught.

More ‘what ifs’ weighed me down as I tried to get by in this world. Would I even have any desire to paint anymore with so many people I loved being taken from me?

Jagger stood in front of a large black SUV and opened the back door, waving for us to get inside. We were probably going to be taken to some church Mrs. Hawthorne gave a lot of money to so this forced marriage could take place.

I felt sick. And when I saw Grace in the front passenger seat, my heart hit the floor. They got her.

Mrs. Hawthorne won. There was no beating her.

“Thank goodness you all are all right,” Grace said as we took our seats.

I nodded and didn’t have the energy to even fake a smile.

“Did Agent Chance explain everything to you?” Grace asked as she turned in her seat to face us.

The driver’s side door opened and Jagger got inside.

“Agent Chance?” Alex said.

Jagger turned, finally taking off his ridiculous sunglasses to stare at us with his cool, green eyes. “I’m Agent Jagger Chance with the United States government.”

“The CIA?” I asked.

“Something like that. We work with the CIA and FBI. We are here to arrest Emma Hawthorne, Douglas Dorton and his wife, Sofia Dorton. Emma Hawthorne, who goes by the name Jay to cover her tracks, is head of a criminal organization to infiltrate the government. We had the warehouse bugged and heard everything she said to you. Don’t worry, you all are safe, thanks to the help of Grace here.”

My eyes widened. “Grace? How did you help?”

Grace blushed and shook her head. “It was nothing. I told Jagger when he reached out to me a few months back that I would help him. When I met you, Alex, I knew you were a good guy. I can sense it, you know?”

She shook her head. “Anyway, I made sure he kept an eye on you two when our mom was going to make you marry Alexa. I couldn’t reach him when she first brought you all to the chapel in Vegas.”

I noticed some pink filling Jagger’s cheeks as he cleared his throat.

“So, I took it upon myself to get you out of there. But, of course, Mom found us so I called Jagger to make sure he got to you before she sent someone else to kidnap you.”

“Unfortunately, we needed the kidnapping to happen in order to get more information from Emma Hawthorne. I made sure my team was waiting to stop everything on my call.”

“You’ve known about this for months?” I asked Grace.

“Yes, but I had to keep everything a secret. I meant it when I said I was happy when our mom reached out to me. I thought I finally had a family that cared about me. But when she explained what happened and what she planned to do about it, I wanted no part of that. In fact, I was angry. I didn’t want anyone to be hurt ever again. These people she’s trying to hurt, while they may be bad, have families. They have children. She’s not God. She can’t decide who lives and who dies. I had to do something.”

Alex reached over the seats and kissed Grace on the cheek. “You’re my hero, Grace.”

“And my hero, too,” I said and reached over to put my hand on her shoulder.

“And mine. Thank you so much, Grace, for what you did,” Alexa said with tears rolling down her face.

I glanced over at Agent Chace and saw him pull the glasses back over his eyes. Leaning forward, I whispered in his ear, “Don’t think I can’t see you crying. You try so hard to act tough, but inside you’re a big softy.”

He cleared his throat, buckling his seatbelt clearly ignoring me.

“Everyone, buckle up. It’s a nine-hour drive to Chicago so get comfortable,” Jagger said.

I sat back in my seat. We put our seatbelts on as the car moved forward. I held Alex’s hand and rested my head on his shoulder. I had no idea I fell asleep until the car stopped.

We were at a gas station.

“Where are we,” I asked as my voice rumbled to life.

“Just outside of Des Moines. Still have a way to go,” Alex said and I could feel something tickling my neck.

Alex was playing with my necklace.

“With all that has happened, this necklace never got lost or broke. It always stayed with you.”

I instinctively reached up to touch the gold heart and dusted Alex’s fingers in the process.

“Yeah, for a cheap necklace my sister saved up for to buy when she was thirteen, it has held tight.”

“Because it’s her heart,” he said and I gazed up at Alex. “You never left her behind, Aria. She’s been with you the whole time.”

I nodded as my face crumbled. He pulled me into his arms and let me cry. All those tears I held inside me, all those years I pushed the thought of her away—they were finally free.

We were all finally free.